Singer-songwriter Chappell Roan has quickly ascended to pop stardom over the past year, garnering attention on social media for her glitzy performances and receiving praise from critics for her campy and upbeat songs.
Since the September 2023 release of her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Roan has made headlines for her theatrical performances at the Coachella and Gov Ball music festivals and has skyrocketed to fame after the viral success of her song “Good Luck Babe” broke into the Billboard Hot 100.
Unsurprisingly, her fan base has grown dramatically since her first headlining concert in May 2022. The 26-year-old pop singer now performs sold-out shows across the country and has even gained a fan in music legend Elton John. But Roan’s path to fame started well before she found traction on TikTok. Her music career first began nearly a decade ago—and almost ended before Roan had a chance to make it big.
Chappell Roan got a record deal when she was still a teenager
Born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Roan started uploading cover songs to YouTube as a teenager living in Willard, Missouri. At age 16, she wrote an original song “Die Young” and was signed to Atlantic Records as a 17-year-old. Roan adopted her stage name in honor of her late grandfather, Dennis Chappell, whose favorite song was “The Strawberry Roan” by Marty Robbins.
Roan’s first EP School Nights was released in 2017, when she was in a self-described “witchy, dark, serious” phase, and she made the move to Los Angeles, where she still resides, soon after. As a queer woman coming of age, living on her own and in a city like L.A. really changed the game for Roan, both personally and professionally. “I feel allowed to be who I want to be here,” Roan told Rolling Stone in October 2022. “That changed everything.”
Her love of Los Angeles and the freedom it presented her ultimately culminated in her 2020 song “Pink Pony Club,” which was inspired by Roan’s experience at The Abbey, a gay bar in West Hollywood. While “Pink Pony Club” eventually became a hit the following summer, it didn’t generate much of a profit at the time of its release, and she was subsequently dropped from her label.
After getting dropped from her label, Roan continued as an independent artist
This was a notable setback for Roan. Unable to find a job in Los Angeles during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, she moved back in with her parents for a while but eventually returned with something to prove. Roan recently told Paper Magazine she gave herself one year to pick up the pieces and start making music again as an independent artist. This prompted the beginning of Roan’s rebrand.
“I was dropped, I was working at a donut shop. No money. That’s what I was doing,” she said. Roan began writing songs again with songwriter and producer Daniel Nigro and, by May 2022, had released two new tracks, “Naked in Manhattan” and “My Kink is Karma,” in a matter of months. The new songs and their accompanying music videos leaned more into her queer identity and drag-inspired look. They were also self-funded and produced entirely by her friends.
“It was so fun and amazing, but I would never do that again,” she said. Roan amassed a sizable following and gained the attention of other artists by promoting the songs on TikTok and Instagram. She released two more tracks before the end of the year, “Casual” and “Femininomenon,” and even opened for singers Olivia Rodrigo and Fletcher.
In early 2023, Roan embarked on her headliner Naked in North America tour, which made quite the splash on social media. In lieu of a traditional opener, the pop artist had local drag queens hype up the crowd for her. Attendees were also encouraged to dress up in wigs and costumes that corresponded to each night’s theme, which were influenced by Roan’s songs, as well as her drag persona and corresponding look. This campy tradition has also carried over into her Midwest Princess tour.
“I think people like to party, and I think my project feels like a party,” Roan told People in September 2023. “I think that people just want to be happy and reflect, sing, dance and dress up, and feel free. The project gives people an opportunity to express themselves without judgment and freedom to discover themselves in the same way that I feel like the project allows me to discover myself.”
Adding to this theme of uninhibited fun, she also created a viral TikTok dance for her August 2023 song “Hot To Go!” and encouraged fans to learn it and perform it with her at shows. The hashtag #hottogo has 16,000-plus posts on TikTok, with Roan’s initial dance tutorial video amassing more than 243,000 views.
Her fame has grown since majors appearances on late night TV and Coachella
Roan’s journey as an independent artist came to an end when she signed with Nigro’s Amusement Records, an imprint under Island Records, in May 2023. She told Grammy.com in April 2024 that she decided to sign with a label because the project of producing her debut album “got too big to be independent anymore.”
Following its release in September, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess has received high praise from critics, fans, and newcomers for its synth-pop hooks, dynamic vocals, and bold embrace of queer themes. Since then, her presence as an artist has taken off, with Roan making the top 10 of Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart nearly a month later.
In February 2024, Roan made her late night debut performing “Red Wine Supernova” in a wedding dress on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The following month, the rising star made a splash when she performed her campy set in a massive wig and drag makeup for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series.
Roan really blew up on social media, however, after performing at Coachella for the first time in April 2024. Videos of her set were posted and shared across the internet, and more and more people starting using her music in their own videos. Her two festival outfits included a giant pink butterfly costume and an ’80s-inspired look complete with crimped hair, leopard tights, and a skin-tight tank top adorned with the words “Eat Me.”
Roan’s momentum shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The pop singer continued to dazzle at New York City’s Gov Ball in earlier this month, making headlines for her music and her message. Decked out in green body paint and a Statue of Liberty costume, Roan previewed a new song called “Subway” and revealed that she turned down an offer to perform at the White House’s Pride celebration. “We want liberty, justice, and freedom for all,” Roan said. “When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.”
Even though Roan is back with a major record label, she is as determined as ever to keep creative control and do things on her own terms, including expressing herself to the fullest extent.
